The present paper examines the role of social media as a platform for political discussion and its effects on political protest. Social media users are expected to increase their political discussion within these social media, which will also boost their protest spirit in society. The statistical population of the study is Mashhad, the second-largest city in Iran, where 860 people were analyzed as a sample. The results depict that social media, either directly or indirectly, through the mediating variable of political discussion, reinforces the tendency to protest in society. Moreover, using social media for social interaction does not directly impact political protest, but this variable can indirectly increase the inclination to protest in society through the mediating variable of political discussion.

中文翻译：

---

社交媒体，政治讨论和政治抗议：以2018年伊朗政治抗议为例

本文探讨了社交媒体作为政治讨论平台的作用及其对政治抗议的影响。社交媒体用户有望在这些社交媒体中增加他们的政治讨论，这也将增强他们在社会中的抗议精神。该研究的统计人口是伊朗第二大城市马什哈德（Mashhad），其中有860人被分析为样本。结果表明，社交媒体通过政治讨论的中介变量直接或间接地增强了社会抗议的趋势。此外，使用社交媒体进行社交互动并不会直接影响政治抗议，但此变量可以通过政治讨论的中介变量间接增加社会抗议的意愿。